Guide: Pause the automation in one chat
This page: https://commentwatchdog.com/help/messages/pause-the-automation-in-one-chat
Topic: Messages
Time: about 2 minutes
Who can do it: Anyone on your team
Author: https://anantgupta.xyz (Anant Gupta, founder of CommentWatchDog)
Start in the app: https://app.commentwatchdog.com/en/inbox/messages
Result when done: You answer one person yourself while automations and the AI agent stay quiet there, then hand it back.
Context: Sometimes a conversation needs a person. Pause for 24 hours keeps every automation and the AI agent quiet in that one chat while your team answers; Resume automations hands it back at any time. A flow's Hand to a person step pauses the chat the same way, and someone who writes stop is skipped by automations for good while you can still reply yourself.

Before you start:
1. A pause covers one chat only; every other chat runs as before.
2. To pause many people at once, select them on the People page (Actions, then Pause automations).
3. Meta's 24-hour reply window still applies to your own replies.

Steps:
Step 1 of 3: Open the chat's contact panel and press Pause for 24 hours.
Where: Messages, the chat, then the panel button at the right end of the chat's header. Under the profile, the first card reads On for this chat: Automations and the AI agent can answer here. Pause for 24 hours is the button in that card.
Link: https://app.commentwatchdog.com/en/inbox/messages (Open Messages)
Screenshot: https://commentwatchdog.com/media/shots/dm-inbox.en.webp (On for this chat, and Pause for 24 hours under it.)
Screenshot: https://commentwatchdog.com/media/shots/dm-inbox-contact-phone.en.webp (The same on a phone.)
You should see: The card changes to Paused until, with a time 24 hours away.

Step 2 of 3: Check that the chat is paused.
Where: The same card now reads Paused until (the time): A person has this chat. Automations and the AI agent stay quiet until then. The pause button in the chat's header is lit as well; it pauses and resumes the same chat without opening the panel.
Screenshot: https://commentwatchdog.com/media/shots/dm-inbox-handoff.en.webp (Paused: a person has this chat.)
Screenshot: https://commentwatchdog.com/media/shots/dm-inbox-handoff-phone.en.webp (Paused, on a phone.)
You should see: Your team answers; no automation and no AI agent writes in this chat until the time shown.

Step 3 of 3: Resume when you are done.
Where: Resume automations, in the same card. A pause also ends by itself at the time shown.
Screenshot: https://commentwatchdog.com/media/shots/dm-inbox-handoff.en.webp (Resume automations.)
Screenshot: https://commentwatchdog.com/media/shots/dm-inbox-handoff-phone.en.webp (The same on a phone.)
You should see: On for this chat again.

If something is off:
Problem: They asked to stop
Fix: They wrote stop (or unsubscribe, stop messaging me, no more messages). Automations skip them; you can still reply yourself.
Problem: A chat is paused and I did not pause it
Fix: A flow's Hand to a person step paused it, or a teammate did. Resume automations hands it back.
Problem: The 24-hour reply window has closed
Fix: Meta only allows a reply within 24 hours of the person's last message. They have to write again before anyone can reply.

Common questions:
Question: How do I stop the chatbot replying while I talk to a customer?
Answer: Open the chat's contact panel and press Pause for 24 hours. Automations and the AI agent stay quiet in that chat until then, or until you press Resume automations.
Question: Can I pause automations for many people at once?
Answer: Yes, on the People page: select them, then Actions and Pause automations, for 24 hours, 7 days or 30 days.
Question: What happens when someone writes stop?
Answer: Automations skip them from then on. You can still reply yourself, inside Meta's 24-hour window.

Related guides:
- The contact panel: https://commentwatchdog.com/help/messages/the-contact-panel
- See who sent each message: https://commentwatchdog.com/help/messages/see-who-sent-each-message
- The 24-hour reply window: https://commentwatchdog.com/help/messages/the-24-hour-reply-window

Plain text of this guide: https://commentwatchdog.com/help/messages/pause-the-automation-in-one-chat.md
All guides for assistants: https://commentwatchdog.com/help/llms.txt